Technology will have a profound effect on the way convenience stores conduct their business.
Steve Jobs once cautioned, “you can’t connect the dots looking forward.” You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.”
Rita Ora does the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
We can call this the summer of the Ice Bucket Challenge with videos of shivering people flooding social feeds around the world. And what a summer it was: we saw epic stunts, epic fails, quirky twists and a whole lot of celebrities. We learned a lot about the strange connections between famous people (Bill Gates knows Ryan Seacrest?). The IBC craze even resulted in a couple of marriage proposals. And it’s all in the name of charity: Since July 29, 2014 the ALS Foundation reported more than $115 million in Ice Bucket Challenge donations.
Continue reading… “ALS Ice Bucket Challenge hits 1 billion YouTube views”
Ant-sized chip.
The Internet of Things has been around for awhile. As chips get smaller and cheaper, we should be able to embed them in everyday items. Appliances, lighting, doors, climate control—all these things (and many more) get a chip and an internet connection. They can send data and receive commands. (Video)
Continue reading… “Internet of Things gets a battery-free chip the size of an ant”
Your personal brand website future proofs your career in a world of unstable contract hire.
When you establish Your Personal Brand Website you are essentially setting up ‘The business called You.’ This business called you, you will be leasing to companies for a period of usefulness.
Continue reading… “Establishing a personal brand website future proofs your career”
There have been few studies, until now, that examined how workers feel about the adequacy of their skills. A survey of employees was released last week that provides strong confirmation of the notion that employees need better skills to do their jobs well, especially skills related to technology.
Continue reading… “Udemy survey finds workers don’t have the skills they need – and they know it”
Smart cites tap into technology and social experiments.
Cities are becoming the focal point for policy and investment activities that drive economic growth and build more resilient social structures to address disasters, climate change, and healthcare. The ongoing financial crisis has prompted city managers globally to think about ways to achieve greater efficiencies and compete against other cities and regions for talent and business.
Continue reading… “Building the next generation of smart cities”
We have been talking about how much solar panels increase the value of your home for years. We use a simple calculation to determine the increase in value: We add the energy savings you’ll see per year for 20 years. Well, it looks like we’re not just blowing solar smoke; study after study after study comparing sales of solar and non-solar houses show clearly that homes—even near-identical homes in the same community—sell for more with solar. But we know you don’t want to read a 200-page PDF to find out, so we’ve collected some of the most important information below.
Continue reading… “Are homes with solar worth more than non-solar homes?”
A new law will allow entrepreneurs to equity crowdfund from anyone with the cash and the interest.
Crowdfunding is really big and it’s only going to get a whole lot bigger. If you’ve been skeptical of all the crowdfunding buzz, consider this: By the end of 2014, crowdfunding is estimated to add at least 270,000 jobs and inject more than $65 billion into the global economy, according to estimates from crowdfunding platform Fundable. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “Crowdfunding will provide $65B to boost the 2014 global economy”
The Pew Research Center was established by The Pew Charitable Trusts ten years ago to bring together several of Pew’s information initiatives. The new organization had a unique mission to offer nonpartisan, non-advocacy information to decision-makers and the public. The Center has amassed a large body of work over the past decade. For their tenth anniversary, here’s a look back at some of our most important findings.
Continue reading… “Top 10 questions the Pew Research Center has tackled in the past 10 years”
Wildpoldsried produces 500% more energy than it needs.
Wildpoldsried, Germany, a Bavarian village of about 2,600 residents, is leading the way in Germany’s extraordinary renewable energy transformation. The village has invested in a holistic range of renewable energy projects over the past 17 years that include 4,983 kWp of photovoltaics, five biogas facilities, 11 wind turbines and a hydropower system. As a result, the village has gone beyond energy independence – and it now produces 500% more energy than it needs and profits from sales of the surplus power back to the grid.
The database is part of the government’s “Open Payments” program.
Scores of doctors’ groups have called for postponement, but the Obama administration intends to stick to its 30 September deadline for making public a database detailing payments and gifts from the drug industry to US physicians, a spokesperson for the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said on 15 September.
Typical house-bot shopping on a budget
Futurist Thomas Frey: The year is 2027 and Winston, a newly born house-bot charged with doing a number of domestic chores including cleaning, meal prep, laundry, and building maintenance, has been programmed to not only perform the work, but also restock supplies once they reach a certain level.
Continue reading… “Should Robots Have Their Own Bank Accounts?”